Add psychological warfare to the legal hurdles that immigrants face. We now have a regime of miserable, angry, weak, vindictive operatives with a dearth of skills for their jobs and an overabundance of zeal for xenophobia--by people who are or are descended from recent immigrants themselves!
And yet we are all immigrants to this country. I say this as the daughter of a man who came here from Cuba to fill the roles of doctors left vacant by the Korean war ... and as the daughter of a woman whose forebears came to this country on the Mayflower. We are all immigrants, and we must all care for one another. I thank the author for speaking out and reminding us of this.
As an immigrant legally brought to this country a the age of 2, now 85, until recently so proud to be an American Citizen, I no longer feel that way. We don’t have a Government that listens to the people, much less acts in there interest. Wait: we don’t have a Government. We have an Autocrat.
It is an old story with totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. Arrogant, conniving, and incompetent scum rises to the top, and lords it over more intelligent, moral, and productive people. I sincerely hope we can keep you, Anonymous, and allow you to continue contributing to this nation.
You've hit on another imperative for all of us in these times: "imagine" it. We must be thinking collectively and not just worrying about what will personally affect us if we want to deter autocracy.
This post illustrates why I've donated $10/month for DACA renewal costs since September 2023. This is handled by United We Dream. https://unitedwedream.org/
Initially, my donation was to help, also, with application costs but those are no longer allowed so, as you can see, DACA recipients need assistance for the biannual requirement to renew.
"...staying in the country costs thousands of dollars (each fee is $555 every two years plus legal fees) and requires an impeccable criminal record."
Thank you so much for sharing this important and heartbreaking perspective. This is the best message I've read or heard for the need for us to create and defend an intelligent, thoughtful, powerfully pro-immigrant immigration policy.
I had no idea that DACA teens and adults were not allowed to work in Texas. How are these folks supposed to earn a living? Many have always thought of the U.S. as home. I wish some more morally thoughtful Congresspeople could come up with a way to allow DACAs to obtain citizenship. But I would not count on it happening with the hateful and cruel Trump Republicans of today. Good article.
How is the treatment of DACA in line with the Christian principle “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? Trump and many of the Republicans hammer home their desire for turning the country into a “white Christian nationalist” domain, yet they appear to espouse hatred for anyone different from them. Why is that? It’s more than likely fear and uncertainty that they experience from both their family upbringing as well as prior generational trauma and current peers. Letting anyone into the USA, other than those who are “like us” takes away from our ability to “have it all to ourselves”.
We as a world, and especially the USA, have enough of everything i.e. food, clothing, housing, freedom, etc., but we still suffer from “lack”. The notion “I want to have it all” rings loud, and corporate America suggests you can, if you but buy everything they produce. “If I can keep others from having, I can have more for myself, so the presumption goes”. Keeping people in bondage (lower wages, uneducated, fearful, dominated, etc.) falls right in line with why authoritarians and the rich and allegedly powerful demand submission to them. DACA related issues absolutely need attention NOW! Free them to help the USA to remain a country where everyone can pursue life, liberty, and happiness to the fullest, UNENCUMBERED.
Suppose we in a nation that purports to separate church and state actually do it, and just stop talking about religion in connection with governance. The faith of any candidate is somehow supposed to be relevant--to what? I'm an atheist, and I don't give a crap about what people believe until it shows up in what they do or try to get others to do. Then all that matters are the results of their actions, not the doctrine upon which they reflect.
Let's put the focus back on competency to govern. What a concept.
Those "Christians" are Christian in name only. They do not obey the call of Jesus to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and self AND your neighbor from other places in the world as yourself (to quote the Hebrew scriptures). I speak as a retired Presbyterian Pastor.
Add psychological warfare to the legal hurdles that immigrants face. We now have a regime of miserable, angry, weak, vindictive operatives with a dearth of skills for their jobs and an overabundance of zeal for xenophobia--by people who are or are descended from recent immigrants themselves!
And yet we are all immigrants to this country. I say this as the daughter of a man who came here from Cuba to fill the roles of doctors left vacant by the Korean war ... and as the daughter of a woman whose forebears came to this country on the Mayflower. We are all immigrants, and we must all care for one another. I thank the author for speaking out and reminding us of this.
The amount of cruelty the Trump regime inflicts on people living in the United States and across the globe is horrifying and indefensible.
As an immigrant legally brought to this country a the age of 2, now 85, until recently so proud to be an American Citizen, I no longer feel that way. We don’t have a Government that listens to the people, much less acts in there interest. Wait: we don’t have a Government. We have an Autocrat.
It is an old story with totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. Arrogant, conniving, and incompetent scum rises to the top, and lords it over more intelligent, moral, and productive people. I sincerely hope we can keep you, Anonymous, and allow you to continue contributing to this nation.
Obviously anonymity is the sane decision, but just imagine the necessity for it.
You've hit on another imperative for all of us in these times: "imagine" it. We must be thinking collectively and not just worrying about what will personally affect us if we want to deter autocracy.
This post illustrates why I've donated $10/month for DACA renewal costs since September 2023. This is handled by United We Dream. https://unitedwedream.org/
Initially, my donation was to help, also, with application costs but those are no longer allowed so, as you can see, DACA recipients need assistance for the biannual requirement to renew.
"...staying in the country costs thousands of dollars (each fee is $555 every two years plus legal fees) and requires an impeccable criminal record."
Thank you so much for sharing this important and heartbreaking perspective. This is the best message I've read or heard for the need for us to create and defend an intelligent, thoughtful, powerfully pro-immigrant immigration policy.
I had no idea that DACA teens and adults were not allowed to work in Texas. How are these folks supposed to earn a living? Many have always thought of the U.S. as home. I wish some more morally thoughtful Congresspeople could come up with a way to allow DACAs to obtain citizenship. But I would not count on it happening with the hateful and cruel Trump Republicans of today. Good article.
How is the treatment of DACA in line with the Christian principle “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? Trump and many of the Republicans hammer home their desire for turning the country into a “white Christian nationalist” domain, yet they appear to espouse hatred for anyone different from them. Why is that? It’s more than likely fear and uncertainty that they experience from both their family upbringing as well as prior generational trauma and current peers. Letting anyone into the USA, other than those who are “like us” takes away from our ability to “have it all to ourselves”.
We as a world, and especially the USA, have enough of everything i.e. food, clothing, housing, freedom, etc., but we still suffer from “lack”. The notion “I want to have it all” rings loud, and corporate America suggests you can, if you but buy everything they produce. “If I can keep others from having, I can have more for myself, so the presumption goes”. Keeping people in bondage (lower wages, uneducated, fearful, dominated, etc.) falls right in line with why authoritarians and the rich and allegedly powerful demand submission to them. DACA related issues absolutely need attention NOW! Free them to help the USA to remain a country where everyone can pursue life, liberty, and happiness to the fullest, UNENCUMBERED.
Suppose we in a nation that purports to separate church and state actually do it, and just stop talking about religion in connection with governance. The faith of any candidate is somehow supposed to be relevant--to what? I'm an atheist, and I don't give a crap about what people believe until it shows up in what they do or try to get others to do. Then all that matters are the results of their actions, not the doctrine upon which they reflect.
Let's put the focus back on competency to govern. What a concept.
Those "Christians" are Christian in name only. They do not obey the call of Jesus to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and self AND your neighbor from other places in the world as yourself (to quote the Hebrew scriptures). I speak as a retired Presbyterian Pastor.